This review is for the 2016 Carbon C S build. My last bike was a BMC Fourstroke FS01 (26er) which climbed like a rocket and handled descent pretty well. With the BMC geo, you could scale most climbs in the saddle. With this bike, I have found that I need to attack most climbs by standing, but that could be more about the rider's fitness than it is about the bike. I have been riding this for about 15 months now, and I absolutely love this bike! It is a blast to ride! It handles very well in the XCountry aspect with the steep head tube angle on tight singletrack, and I have total confidence in it during descents or when things get a little gnarly. I am a little on the heavy side, but this bike has never bottomed out during the suspension curve at all. Descents are truly where this bike is the happiest. It will follow a line until you tell it otherwise. The S build has SRAM GX 1 x11 with a 10-42 Rear Cassette and a 32T Race Face Crank. I replaced the Front Chain ring with a 30T because I am in my 40's and my legs aren't quite what they used to be and it feels just about perfect, great gear range. The GX Shifters are crisp and responsive. SLX Brakes with Race Face Cockpit and Seat post. The only thing that I changed was the stock wheelset as they were disappointing. The build came with SRAM hubs that aren't even listed on the SRAM webpage, and Easton Rims ran tubeless. Within the first 6 months, the rear Easton Rim was shot, so I replaced them with Industry 9 Torch hubs laced to Stans 2017 ARCH EX hoops and it rolls even better! It weighs just shy of 27#. I can't believe that I am saying this, but I think that I will be riding this bike for quite a few years to come.

Strengths: The all-around rideability is unmatched by any other bike I've ridden or owned.

Weaknesses: I wouldn't say that it's necessarily a weakness, but the rear suspension ramps up at the end. Although not harsh, it's noticeable. I also swapped a 203mm rotor for the standard 160mm disc.

Bottom Line:

I also own a 2011 EX9 and 2012 Mach 5.7 (both are 26" bikes), which I like very much. That said, those have now been relegated to replacement bike status and are rarely ridden. This Tallboy 2 suits me nearly perfectly. I am 6' 1.5" tall and the XL fits me very well. It is distinctly light, has excellent small-bump compliance, and very interestingly, is better for me in tight switchbacks than either of the others. I am so pleased with its performance as-is that I have not swapped a Gravity Dropper for the stock seatpost. Other than while riding a local pump track, I haven't missed the adjustability. The VPP provides a firm pedaling platform and the Fox CTD suspension settings work as advertised. I am extremely pleased with this bike and it serves well for cross-country or all-around trail riding.

Weaknesses: Head angle is rather steep for more aggressive trail riding
Cable routing can interfere with bottle cage
Pedal strikes are common on rocky terrain
Grease gun is really hard to remove
Minor squeak in rear pivot

Bottom Line:

I just did a custom built Tallboy Carbon, Fox 32 RLC, full XTR, 240 hubs, Arch wheels, and this build is by far the best 29er I have owned to date, I build a new bike every couple of months just to try something new and I can honestly say this one I will keep. I have been through the Niner frames, Gary Fisher/Trek, Pivot, and Specialized, and finally I have found a bike that is all around a perfect fit for my style of riding. It climbs very well, decends with confidense and the cornering is good (Not as good as a Niner Jet 9) I am excited everytime I think about riding my Tallboy.

My first ride out I could immediately feel just how fast and "flickable" it was. The other first impression I noticed was how I was clipping my pedals on some areas I normally dont even think about when leaving my feet down, I defiantly need to pay much more attention to my foot position on the TB.

Strengths: Stiff, excellent climber. Carbon frame has proven to be very durable given how light it is.

Weaknesses: Rear shock (Fox RP23) takes some setup time, and perhaps even custom tuning to work ideally. Pivot axles will loosen over time, and need to be tightened, with loctite. Not so much of a weakness, as a maintenance reminder.
Not the least expensive option....

Bottom Line:

I have been riding this bike on the average twice per week for the past two years. Bottom line, if I was going to replace it today, not sure what I would purchase. (I would take a look at the DW Link bikes such as Pivot or Ibis for comparison).

I do a pretty good mix of cross country and trail, along with very long cobblestone and fire roads. It climbs better than any bike I have ridden. The contact patch of the 29" tire, along with the stiff rear suspension makes long climbs pretty enjoyable. With the 120mm fork, the front end can get a bit bouncy on the really steep climbs. I rode it for a while with a 100mm fork for this reason, but didn't like the twitchy head tube angle, or the lower front end.

The only issues I have seen with the bike are as follows;
After a couple of years the pivot axles became a bit loose, causing the rear triangle to seem sloppy. I pulled the axles, applied Loctite, and then reassembled. Good as new. This is hardly a complaint though, I have done ZERO maintenance on the bike, so I had it coming.

The other issue has been with the Fox RP23 shock. With the sag set at 20-25%, it blows through the last half of the travel quickly. This has resulted in some pedal strikes, and near misses. At some point it lost all dampening, made no difference with pro-pedal on or off. I sent it to Fox and explained the situation. They repaired it, and dampening was restored, probably better than new. The issue remains that if you lower the sag to make the suspension more active, you may have some harsh bottom-outs. I have heard from others that the Rockshox appears to have more volume, but I haven't been able to confirm.

This bike is best suited for someone whose wife is on him about too many bikes in the garage, and needs to get down to just one bike to do almost everything. That was pretty much my situation, and I have not regretted the purchase.

I used to have the 2012 version, which I loved but sold to test out other bikes, thinking the grass was greener on the other side , "it wasn't" . The 2013 version seemed to have the 2 biggest improvements that I had noticed from the 12 version, the first being the 142x12 thru axle, what a huge difference on the lateral stiffness and flex, than the Fox CTD rear shock, this has an almost full lockout feature, which is great when climbing up steep hills or fire roads, and with a flip of the switch , it drops into trail or descend mode , both of which there is a noticeable difference in the suspension, Ive had numerous bikes from 26" to 650b to 29rs , ( giant reign xo, pivot firebird, Giant Anthem x1, Giant trance adv sl0, Niner rip 9, Niner air 9 rdo, 2012 Tallboy c, The 2013 Tallboy c is by far my favorite do it all bike, I race it , trail ride it and there is nothing it cant handle here in las Vegas's Bootleg Canyon, I have the bike setup with full xx1, sid rockshock, xx, stans arch wheelset, bike is at 23lbs, and takes off like a rocket and always puts a smile on my face,

My first true experience on a full suspension so hard to make comparisons. Transitioned from many years on road bikes to 29ers several years ago and have been faithfully riding rigid geared and single speed set-ups. Reluctantly replaced a carbon Niner fork with a front suspension fork on a Niner MCR a couple of years ago but realized that my ability to keep up with others on full suspension rigs and to ride on a lot of the same trails would necessitate getting a full suspension. Value rating??? When you're spending as much as many do on nice used cars or motorcycles, how can you justify spending this much on a bicycle? With that said, similar quality carbon bikes are all pretty much in the same ballpark as far as cost so can't really say that the Santa Cruz is any less of a "value" than Ibis or Intense or . . . . Besides the price, I was hesitant about getting on a slow, heavy, flexy, mushy feeling full suspension bike. That was not the case at all on this bike as it is rocket fast and the adjustments on the front and rear Fox shocks make fine tuning the ride to the trail that much nicer. No more carefully picking lines and tip-toeing thru rough stuff and this thing flies over rocks and roots that I would previously need to negotiate around. Still in learning phase as far as negotiating technical stuff on climbs and downhills but getting more comfortable and confident with each ride. I am 6'1" and can straddle a yardstick in bare feet - went with an XL but using a short 70mm Thomson stem on Thomson DH 780mm bars (may end up trimming these). Prefer XT stuff but deal from Competitive Cyclist came with Sram XO drivetrain and so far, so good.

Strengths: Great all around trail/xc bike. Super stiff. Great climbing machine. Plush. Spot on geometry. 120mm fork is the way to go.

Weaknesses: Honestly none. And this is coming from a guy who rides 3-4 times a week from xc to rough trail riding. For the type of bike it is, it is perfect.

Bottom Line:

I ride everything from xc/am/trail. I've had Blur ltc, Nomad, Yeti sb66, Trek remedy, Yeti asr5, Giant xtc, C'dale Flash, Niner air 9. And for what this bike is designed for its my favorite one yet. I have it set up 120mm front Kash and 100mm rear Kash 2013. The first 5 rides I was just blown away at how this thing handles. I live in Pa so there are lots of rocks and roots in the places I ride. This bike just floats over them all. My confidence has grown tremendously in regards to cleaning rocky super technical sections. I just roll through them now. The bike is a great climber, not as good as a ht 29er but still pretty good. I can pass one of my best friends on hill climbs now (he rides a 26") and before that was darn near impossible. I've rode several fs 29ers, Giant Anthem, Ellsworth Evolve(junk), C'dale Scalpel and by far this bike kills them all on the downhills. I cant do all the huge jumps like I used to but pretty close. It handles very well at speed. I hear other 29er owners say that they cant navigate tight turns well on their 29er?? Well I don't see a problem with the TallBoy C, I rip just as fast if not faster on turns and tight twisty single track. Buying this bike has not only made me a better rider. It brought back the fun in tearing it up on the trail. If your looking for a do it all kida bike then I strongly suggest this machine. Anything coming from Santa Crus is going to have high commitment to quality and when you throw a leg over this beast its very easy to see.

Weaknesses: Low bottom bracket maybe. May not handle as well as it does with a higher bottom bracket height. Price was a shocker to start with but found a year end closeout

Bottom Line:

I had tried 29ers and carbon in the past and never wanted either again. After reading multiple rave reviews that basically spelled out this was the bike I'd always dreamed of I decided to demo one for a weekend. After 30 minutes into my demoing found myself trying things to expose the Tallboy weaknesses but every time I tried something it always surprised me in a good way. Ivhad two BLT-2s before this bike and like the fact this bike was way more efficient. Not as plush but plush enough. Perfect all arounder/trail bike/occasional racer for me. I've had the bike for two years now and there's really nothing out there that interests me. Maybe a Tallboy 2 and I hear the RDO Niners are nice but my aluminum Jet-9 wasn't any more efficient than the BLTs I had and not as plush as Tallboy.

Strengths: I got the competitive cyclist featured bike Tallboy. It has SRAM XX components. This bike is super light for a 29er full suspension. The SRAM XX shifting is fast. The wheels are light. It is really fast on the flats and climbs. Once you gain momentum you sort of just cruise. Once you set up the suspension right you can do some light all-mountain/trail riding on twisty single track and rock garden descents. Despite being an XC spec bike I've never bottomed out the suspension. The sales guy in CC also suggested getting the 100mm stem instead free of charge which I think made the difference in handling.Overall a sweet bike and less pricey than the top of the line spec from Santa Cruz

Weaknesses: The XX rear derailer gets out of tune often so you have to be always aware of when it needs tuning. The bottom bracket that it came with from CC started creaking in about 3 months after I did a few 6 hr endurance races. The ones it came with was SRAM GXP Blackbox Ceramic bottom brackets. I called up CC and told them of the issue and they said they hadn't had any issues with the SRAM GXP. I asked if they can replace it with a Chris King bottom bracket but they said the best they can do was give me $50 reimbursement. So if you get this bike the first thing you will probably need to upgrade is the bottom bracket.

Bottom Line:

Overall a good value. Super light and durable except for the bottom bracket. I probably will not buy another Mountain Bike for the next 10-15 years as long as I have my Tallboy!

Weaknesses: - When cornering very hard some flex is noticeable through the rear triangle. I've run ENVE AM carbon rims on the bike and noticed the same thing so I know it's not the wheels. While noticeable it's not annoying in any way.
- When it was new, it was quite expensive. But you get what you pay for

Bottom Line:

A truly great bike all over. I've been using the Tallboy for XC Racing and Trail riding for the past year and it's amazed me around every corner. The geometry is perfect for proper cross country riding, and while it's a bit steep for aggressive trail riding it's still no slouch, and depending on who I was riding with I could stick with guys on 6" AM monsters. The VPP suspension gives a very plush feeling over big impacts and while it doesn't "stay put" on climbs, the pedal bob isn't so bad that it's distracting from the experience. With a super lightweight build and slick tires the Tallboy can tame any epic cross country race, and with a burly build with full knobby tires, it's a very capable trail bike. There seems to be more travel than the 100mm it's specced with. A hot topic with the Tallboy is it's low bottom bracket. While on the spec sheet the BB does seem on the low side, it's by no means intrusive to the ride and while I did get a few more pedal strikes than on my Cove Hummer hardtail it's not hampering to hopping logs or pedaling while cornering. I run a 90mm stem and that seems to be a good length, but i've run it with a 70mm and it still handles very well. I recommend this bike to anyone who does primarily cross country riding with a bit of racing and a bit of hardcore trail riding.

Strengths: All the other points made as well as this: (based on a 2013 Carbon size XL Tallboy with full XTR 2x10 with fox120mm kashima CTD fork and rear kashima CTD shock, and easton carbon post and bar)
Likely rides better/smoother/more controlled on the down than any other XC race bike! Not a pure XC race bike but will easily hang. Capable of ultra light build. Mine is 24lbs with heavier all mountain Easton Haven AL wheels. Carbon or Light Stans would take off close to another pound. Climbs really well and handles quick and accurately but not twitchy. Stiffer with the rear through axle! Bike never fails to impress me on every ride.

Weaknesses: Have yet to determine if the seat tube angle is responsible for placeing me a smidgen more behind the BB then I would like (or if this is the flex of the carbon seat post causing this) It only seems to annoy me once and a while though. No other weaknesses yet.

Bottom Line:

There is no need to say more. This bike is amazing. For a size XL frame full suspension bike Its impressive to pull off a 24lb weight and that makes a huge difference to me.

Enjoy if you get one!

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Mike D.
a Weekend Warrior

Date Reviewed: January 21, 2013

Strengths: Strong and light

Weaknesses: None

Bottom Line:

I recently "modified" my 2010 Tallboy with Cane Creek Angleset, with the 1.5 degree slackener and a Fox 34 Talas 140 fork. Love the ride with the slacker front end. My fork angle is now at 69.5. Now my Tallboy is more "point and shoot" than the old setup. The longer travel fork is also a huge upgrade. Love the 34mm stanchions (I was running a Fox 32 120 Talas before).

"Best All-round" often means "Master of None". In the case of the TBc though, it's more like master of everything. While other bies may slightly better it in one way or another, none match the overall package. It has no significant weaknesses in build quality, handling, design, or reliability, and it can be had with well thought-out build packages.

The number of glowing reviews is a perfect testiment to how well it works for a wide range of riders as well. If you're looking for an XC bike at this price point, the TBc is a no-brainer solution.

My last two bikers were a Dos Niner and a Klein Mantra. RIP. I was looking for 29 F/S bike for around $2,000 and the sales person at Speedgoat talked me into the Tallboy. I'm glad he did. This is one sweet handling bike. I ride mostly single track and the Tallboy is the King of Single Track. It's so responsive, which is why it's so much fun. Roots and rocks no problem, just go straight. Santa Cruz did their homework on this bike. Another benefit of good handling bike that it's safer to ride and breeds confidence. If your looking for a 29 F/S bike make sure the Tallboy Carbon is on your list.

First of all, why MTBR has done away with the field for listing other bikes owned, i haven't a clue, but i think its counterproductive to the whole purpose of these reviews and rather uncool in general. I have had a 2008 Stump Jumper Hard tail, Gary Fisher Hifi Plus ( 2010 model) , 2009 Trek Fuel Ex8, and 2012 Sette Razzo 29er carbon ( x7 build )

This bike is simply a work of art in both function and form. One of the many brilliant design features of this machine is the short wheelbase. The first time i took this bike to the trails i found myself cornering through switchbacks rather effortlessly and after a few turns realized that for the first time i could corner at high speeds without needing to use the breaks at all.. the back wheel just stuck like velcro, i was actually laughing when i realized how well this bike takes corners. After studying a bit, at this point i know of no other full suspension 29er with such a tight wheelbase. My medium frame has a wheelbase of 42.6 inches, about an inch shorter than any other medium frame FS 29er that i know of. Why other companies are not catching on to the concept of having the shortest wheelbase possible i haven't a clue, but the way this bike corners was shocking at first. I was also shocked at how well the suspension system performs, hardly any peddle bob, climbs very well without any problematic squish and i was able to just plow over some railroad ties with far less bump or bob than i ever would have expected from any bike. Perfection is a good word to describe the way this bike feels. Without a doubt i have never sat on a bike that feels as good as this one, much less owned one. I have mine down to just over 25.5 pounds and still feel mesmerized by its strength to weigh ratio. The bike is a beast, it rolls over everything, keeps such amazing control in every situation that i'v only wrecked it twice ( huge contrast to my wipeout rates on my other bikes ) I have dropped close to 6k in this bike, something i never thought i would do in a million years, i still have a huge balance on my credit card but anytime i hop on this thing, i have no regrets or worries about the debt incurred.